Effects of age and prosthesis material on in vitro cartilage retention of laryngoplasty prostheses in horses.

The research article looks into the effects of age and prosthesis material on the retention strength of cartilage in horses after laryngoplasty, finding no significant effect of either factor.

Objective of the Research

• The objective of this study was to examine how the age of a horse and the type of prosthetic material used can impact the retention strength of cartilage following a laryngoplasty procedure. The researchers used 15 larynges, from horses of different ages (2, 3 and 4 years old), and applied laryngoplasty with two different types of prostheses, doubled polyester and expanded polytetrafluoroethylene.

Methodology

• Bilateral laryngoplasties were performed on each larynx. The researchers then subjected the prostheses to tension, and monitored the force necessary to cause total failure in cartilage or prosthesis itself.
• The tensions only caused cricoid cartilage failure in one specimen, while the other failures were in the muscular process cartilage.

Results

• The researchers report found that there was no significant effect on the cartilage retention of prostheses caused by the age of the horse, the prosthetic material, or on which side of the larynx the prosthesis had been placed.
• They also found that the frequency of multiple load-displacement peaks (which indicate a partial failure in the muscular process) were not affected by age or the type of prosthetic material used.

Significance of the Research

• The findings of this research imply that when performing laryngoplasty procedures on horses, the age of the horse or the type of prosthetic material used does not significantly affect the strength of cartilage retention.
• In essence, this suggests that irrespective of the horse’s age or the type of prosthetic material used, the outcomes of laryngoplasty surgeries in term of cartilage strength remain relatively consistent.